Windsor project takes eastward step

Water Valley residents who need last-minute munchies for a weekend barbecue won’t have to drive to west Windsor.

Schrader’s Country Store broke ground in April and will become the first tenant in a new shopping center being developed next to Water Valley.

But it won’t be the last.

Called Water Valley Village, the 200,000-square-foot building includes space for a grocery store and a retail mall, similar to that by Safeway.

Developer Martin Lind said the 60,000- to 70,000-square-foot space is reserved for a major grocer. In comparison, the King Soopers, planned for the New Windsor Marketplace on Weld County Road 15 and Main Street, will be 67,150 square feet.

Lind said it is time for a project like this to move into east Windsor.

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“Water Valley’s 700 units could make a market on its own,” Lind said. “There are no services provided out there – nowhere to get a candy bar east of 7th Street.”

While there is no time line for the development’s completion, Lind said he has received strong interest from a bank and several restaurants for sites. He expects to make announcements by mid-summer.

“It will progress with the market, naturally,” Lind said. “As soon as people start changing their driving patterns and begin filling up with gas at Schrader’s, more and more interest will come from other retailers.”

Development architect Greg Fisher said the center will have a diagonal layout with curvy roads rather than the standard 90-degree angles in most centers.

Fisher, who also designed Windsor’s west corridor plan on Colo. 392, said the use of real stone instead of synthetic stone will also make a big difference.

Lind agreed, saying the center will stay in line with Windsor’s overall attitude.

“It will be a little higher-end than the architecture you see on Main Street, but it won’t be a Park Meadows, either,” Lind said.

Cate Matthews, owner of the Windsor General Store, said she’s glad development is moving in that direction.

Lind said developments such as this and the Diamond Valley Sports Complex will place downtown in the center of Windsor rather than move it away from the rest of the community.

“In Greeley, all the business is either south or west of downtown and if Colorado State University wasn’t located where it is, downtown Fort Collins would hurt also,” Lind said. “Anything that can be done to enhance the east side of Windsor will be good for downtown.”